Dentsu, Connecturf in digital ads venture

Japanese major will hold 51% stake in Clickstreamers

MUMBAI: Dentsu Communications, the Indian subsidiary of Japanese advertising giant Denstu has formed a joint venture with Mumbai-based digital advertising firm Connecturf.

Dentsu will hold 51% in the JV, Clickstreamers India Pvt Ltd, which would be capitalised at around Rs 1 crore ($2,35,000).

Over the coming month, the company will open offices in New Delhi and Bangalore in addition to its existing setup in Mumbai and will tap into the “fast growing Indian internet advertising market,” a Denstu statement said.

According to the company, about 46 million Indians were using the internet in September 2007, a jump of nearly 43% from a year earlier. It expects revenue from internet advertising in India to rise by over 3.5 times from current levels to more than $200 million in 2012.

T Koyanagi, CEO, Dentsu Digital told DNA Money that unlike the traditional ROI (return on investment) concept, the JV would bring return on involvement for consumers.

“Digital is a business of interactivity where consumer involvement needs to be maximised for best results. Dentsu is already a world leader in Japan in digital and mobile communication. In India, with Clickstreamers, we’ve begun working on clients like Honda and Raymond,” he said.

V Ramani, vice-chairman and managing director, Connecturf, said the Clickstreamers concept originated about 8-10 months ago.

Apart from direct clients, Connecturf services several Dentsu clients like Honda Unicorn, Fedex, Thomas Cook, Toyota and Hindustan Construction Corp.

“These are client relationships, which have established themselves over a period of time, allowing both Dentsu and Connecturf to have a good understanding of what these brands are really made of. We’ve understood how clients have embraced the digital experience and there is much we can use from those learnings. Our JV will take it a step ahead in the digital domain, as it becomes a requirement to take branding to 360 degrees.”

Rather than in-house development of talent for digital advertising, ad majors have ramped up expertise in this domain either through organic growth or alliances. For example, in 2007, advertising major WPP acquired Delhi-based agency Qasar Media and in March this year, Lintas and Pinstorm entered into a pay-for-performance alliance.

Sandeep Goyal, chairman, Dentsu India said a specialist’s expertise in the domain was essential. “These skills cannot be built in-house and it makes better sense to align with the best,” he said.